Mark the new year with old favorites

When the clock bongs 12 times tonight, we’ll see the finish of this long hard old year, and gear up to greet a whole new one.

If a plate of sweet finishes or starts to 2012 or 2013 sounds like a great idea, as the case may be with your New Year’s celebration plans, we have two choices today. Both are old, dating back to the Dec. 19, 1986, Forum column, but they’re always good as new, whenever you make them.

The first, a pumpkin-chocolate chip cookie, is so popular at the Lynnwood home of Sandy Grabosky-Jones that she always makes a double batch in the hopes she’ll have enough to last more than one day.

“When I put out a plate of holiday cookies,” she said at the time, “these always disappear first.”

Incidentally, I’ve been told, but can’t verify myself, that these can be stored airtight and frozen, and eaten straight from the freezer!

Or, if something not too sweet is in order, Suzanne Ramsey of Greenbank suggests serving her apricot chews.

Back then, she told us, “These are not very sweet, a good idea for holiday cookies,” and warned us that the chews should be watched closely during baking because they burn easily.

So, to see out the old or welcome in the new, here are:

Pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies

1 1/2cups pumpkin

1/2 cup margarine, melted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 egg

2 cups unsifted flour

1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 package (6 ounces) chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, margarine, sugars and vanilla, mixing well.